I am interested in hearing from 2002/2003 Maxima SE owners in the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada area to arrange a comparison drive to determine if my suspension is too soft. I previously owned a 2000 SE with the 16" wheels and it had a wonderful ride. My 2003 drives like a Buick (except the Buick does not have the impact harshness of the 17" wheels/tires). I have driven a 2003 demo at the dealer and it does not seem as soft as my vehicle. I cannot, however, convince my dealer of this.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I'm in Edmonton, e-mail me at kiwaluk@telusplanet.net and we can set something up.

Stephen

 

I have a 2002 and a 2003 6 speed. One the reasons I went for the 2003 is its suspension is more subdued than the 2002. Road noise is muffled better. I also think the 2003 handles better. I Nissan may have twaked the suspension a bit.

 

you should look into installing the subframe connector (http://www.warpspeedperformance.com) to stiffen up the car's chassis. In another word, subframe connectors strengthen the body structure, reducing body twist and tying the suspension together. This mod will DEFINATELY make your car rides and also handles MUCH better with fewer squeaks and rattles since the more rigid chassis will help the suspension to work more efficiently. I recently had the subframe connector installed on my car and the handling was very noticeable especially in high speed cornering. Overall, The car is more level/balance which give me more confident whenever I need to manuver the car quickly. IMO, this is the best mods for the suspension without compromising for the stiff ride if you choose the other option of upgrading for aftermarket springs/struts.

 

Does anyone carry these as bolt ons? Looks cool, but I don't know how to weld or even have a torch!

 

Yes you are right. I used to have 2000 SE and 2002 SE is softer. Nissan used softer shocks on 2002 SE. It definetly has more float.

 

You saying that 2003 handles better than 2002 does. They have identical suspension.I don't think Nissan changed anything for 2003. But who knows..

Either way, 2000, 2002 or 2003 Maximas still have stupid rear beam in the back. So all of them will pitch feel like a boat on the uneven surfaces.

 

I really could not stand the softer suspension on the 2k3 SE I have especially coming from the '99 SE I previously owned. While other have changed out springs and struts, I had success just changing out the front struts to tokicos with the stock springs and installing a fstb for more level turning at speed. It still isn't as nimble as the '99 SE but the float and bounce is gone. The rears didn't need changing, from my perspective, as the rear springs and shocks are stiffer in the 2k2-3 SE than the GLE/GXE. It is the front struts and springs that are the same. The SE does have a stiffer stabilizer bar though but that is about it up front.

 

Don't have a 2k3 for you to drive (long drive to Edmonton from Houston), but I can tell you that the stock 2k3 suspension, even on the SE, is VERY boat-like.

Note that you can fix this with an RSB and FSTB, without adding sub-frame stiffeners. Can't fix the cool concept of the rear springs bottoming on even small bumps without new springs though

 

If you have a 2k2-3 SE where the rear is bottoming out on small bumps, you may have a defect with the rear strut and/or spring and there is a Nissan TSB out for 'bottoming rear suspension'. Check with your dealer. I don't have the TSB number but it was issued in late spring or early summer of 2002.

 

My 2k GXE never bottomed out on a nasty road that I take everyday from work to home. My 2k2 SE bottoms out rathered badly on the same road.

Maxspeeds are sitting in the closet at home but I don't know how much of a difference that will make.

 

I have already been down this road with the dealership. The TSB only applies to GXE/GLE models and the fix is to install SE springs. I had almost convinced my dealer to order a new set of springs, when the service manager actually read the TSB and noted that it did not apply to my car.

Does anyone have any experience in installing 2000 SE springs in the 2002/2003 SE? I have not been able to confirm exact part numbers, but there have been enough posts that suggest Nissan went to a softer spring in the 2003/2003 SE. I know I could go with stiffer aftermarket springs but I have not been able to locate ones that don't also lower the car. Since we have very deep snow in Edmonton for 5 or so months of the year, ground clearance is a big issue.

 

Yep, I had the same problem, along with many others. It was one of the primary reasons I dumped the car after only 3 months. If I wanted a Buick I would have bought one. Three Nissan service dept's. said the shocks were not defective even though I experienced frequent bottoming in an unladen car. It was much worse with luggage or passengers.

 

Yeah, it sucks but ehh (shrug) - the $140 RSB mod not only fixes the handling, but the bottoming problem is better (back wheels move more in concert for bumps, instead of independently). So now it only happens on speed bumps - annoying, but not a big deal.

 

I don't understand how the RSB can reduce the bottoming problem. Does tne SE not come with a rear sway bar as stock?

 

2003 GLE here. Went on a cross country trip with my parents the day after I bought the car. It definitely has rear suspension problems. Felt all kinds of movement that I've never experienced in a Max before. The screwed the pooch big time on this one.

 

4th gen, though it wasnt an independent suspension at the rear, still feels less like a boat than the fifth, though. dont no y they decided to actually make it worst. i mean money is money, but how much do they need to cut the costs. think it went too far for this, but at least they didnt cut off costs when creating the engine

 

Some differences of opinion on this one, but basically the 2k2 / 2k3s come with a front sway bar, not a rear one. Since the RSB attaches to both trailing arms at the rear, it forces them to move together. This not only reduces body roll (when the outside wheel is forced "up", some of that is transmitted to the inside wheel so the car stays flatter), but when one wheel hits a bump both wheels react.

This theoretically makes the suspension more harsh, but I've only noticed an improvement.

 

Cattman RSB $110 shipped.

 

Oh - mine was $119 plus ship.

 

Only Warpspeedperformance makes SFC for the Maxima. You can easily bring it to the local Midas or any performance exhaust shop to do the work. It should cost no more than $60 for the stage 1 installed (only stage 1 needs welding the rest are bolt-on the stage 1). If you do the search on 'SFC'. you'll see my previous post and others in regards to the SFC's.

Beside the SFC's stage 1&2 installed, I also have the fstb/rstb/rsb. I can't say enough about how greatly my car is handling right now. No boat like ride at all! The suspension is very communicative without the harsh/stiff/bumpiness ride. I think most members turn away from this mods because of the welding required by stage one. It is ashamed since they don't know what they're missing. If you think the rsb makes a big differnt, the SFC will multiply that by two. By no mean, I am not trying to endorse the products but only give you guys the infos from my personal experience.

FYI, I am currently waiting to get my stage 3 kit. It should be arriving pretty soon. I'll update my previous thread once I have it installed.

 

I'm looking at the 2003 Maxima brochure and it states that all 3 models of Maxima come with "front and rear stabilizer bars." I took a look under my vehicle and there appears to be a bar of some sort behind the rear wheels spanning the width of the suspension.

 

There was a lot of conversation about this one (actually two guys arguing it back and forth), but it appears that while a front sway bar does exist, the bar you're seeing on the rear is the multi-beam. It doesn't act as a true sway bar because if you look underneath (while installing your RSB ) it's not attached to the trailing arms (don't see how else it could work). I guess "stabilizer bars" can mean a lot of things.